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When it comes to winning the biggest game in Delaware girls basketball, nobody has been better than John Fiorelli.

So the 57-year-old left some big shoes to fill Thursday when he announced he was stepping down as head coach after 23 seasons at St. Mark's.

"There's no one reason," Fiorelli said. "… You begin to wonder if you've lost your fastball a little bit. Certainly, my priority is still in the classroom. I teach English, and that's my first love.

"It always feels like I'm grading papers over the holidays and trying to juggle things, and I've always thought I did it pretty well. This year was just a harder year."

The Spartans struggled through a 7-14 season but did reach the state tournament and knocked off William Penn 36-34 before losing to top-seeded Ursuline in the second round.

"I don't want anyone to think that I'm giving it up because we went 7-14," Fiorelli said. "The girls this year were great. You might have thought we went 14-7 and won a couple of tournament games. And we have some nice kids coming back."

Fiorelli has been an English teacher at St. Mark's since 1980 and was head coach of the boys basketball team from 1983-86. He coached the girls from 1989-2002, then came back to coach the girls again from 2006 through this season. He plans to continue teaching and still coaches the Spartans' golf team.

"He's done a lot of great things over his career," St. Mark's athletic director Matt Smith said of Fiorelli. "He's going to be missed in the coaching world, but we're proud of what he did and what he's accomplished."

Fiorelli guided the Spartans to six state titles, winning in 1991, back-to-back in 1996 and '97, and three in a row from 2000-02. His teams were 6-0 in championship games. No other Delaware girls coach has more than three state titles.

"We had some really good teams and really fine players," Fiorelli said. "That is a good record, a good feeling that once you get to the final game, you had a really good chance of winning it."

Fiorelli said the loss of two of his top assistants – Mike Riley and Michelle Delle Cave – made coaching tougher this season. Riley was unable to help due to business commitments, and Delle Cave – a two-time Delaware Player of the Year in 2000-01 at St. Mark's – had to cut back on her coaching schedule after having a baby.

"Certainly, I don't have any regrets," Fiorelli said. "I love coaching at St. Mark's. It's a great school, and we have a lot of good kids. I've made a lot of good friends through coaching and teaching, but it just seemed like I needed to pull away, at least from the head coaching job."

But he didn't rule out working as an assistant. It's difficult to hang up the whistle forever.

"I'm probably going to be coaching somewhere," Fiorelli said with a chuckle. "There's no way I'm going to be able to sit home every night."